Fin field-effect transistor device and method

ABSTRACT

A method includes forming a first fin protruding above a substrate, the first fin having a PMOS region; forming a first gate structure over the first fin in the PMOS region; forming a first spacer layer over the first fin and the first gate structure; and forming a second spacer layer over the first spacer layer. The method further includes performing a first etching process to remove the second spacer layer from a top surface and sidewalls of the first fin in the PMOS region; performing a second etching process to remove the first spacer layer from the top surface and the sidewalls of the first fin in the PMOS region; and epitaxially growing a first source/drain material over the first fin in the PMOS region, the first source/drain material extending along the top surface and the sidewalls of the first fin in the PMOS region.

PRIORITY CLAIM AND CROSS-REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/431,352, filed Jun. 4, 2019, which is a divisional of U.S. patentApplication Ser. No. 15/967,295, filed Apr. 30, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No.10,340,384 issued Jul. 2, 2019, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/592,871, filed Nov. 30, 2017 andentitled “Fin Field-Effect Transistor Device and Method,” whichapplications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

The semiconductor industry has experienced rapid growth due tocontinuous improvements in the integration density of a variety ofelectronic components (e.g., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors,etc.). For the most part, this improvement in integration density hascome from repeated reductions in minimum feature size, which allows morecomponents to be integrated into a given area.

Fin Field-Effect Transistor (FinFET) devices are becoming commonly usedin integrated circuits. FinFET devices have a three-dimensionalstructure that comprises a semiconductor fin protruding from asubstrate. A gate structure, configured to control the flow of chargecarriers within a conductive channel of the FinFET device, wraps aroundthe semiconductor fin. For example, in a tri-gate FinFET device, thegate structure wraps around three sides of the semiconductor fin,thereby forming conductive channels on three sides of the semiconductorfin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isnoted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry,various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of thevarious features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity ofdiscussion.

FIG. 1 illustrates a FinFET in a perspective view, in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIGS. 2, 3A, 3B, 4A-4C, 5A-5F, 6A-6C, 7A-7C, 8A-8C, 9A-9C, 10A-10C,11A-11C, 12A-12C, and 13-16 are various views (e.g., plan views,cross-sectional views) of a FinFET device at various stages offabrication, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow chart of a method of forming a semiconductordevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, orexamples, for implementing different features of the invention. Specificexamples of components and arrangements are described below to simplifythe present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and arenot intended to be limiting. For example, the formation of a firstfeature over or on a second feature in the description that follows mayinclude embodiments in which the first and second features are formed indirect contact, and may also include embodiments in which additionalfeatures may be formed between the first and second features, such thatthe first and second features may not be in direct contact.

Further, spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,”“above,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. The spatiallyrelative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of thedevice in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted inthe figures. The apparatus may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degreesor at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors usedherein may likewise be interpreted accordingly.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a FinFET 30 in a perspective view. TheFinFET 30 includes a substrate 50 and a fin 64 protruding above thesubstrate 50. The substrate 50 has isolation regions 62 formed thereon,and the fin 64 protrudes above and between neighboring isolation regions62. A gate dielectric 66 is along sidewalls and over a top surface ofthe fin 64, and a gate 68 is over the gate dielectric 66. Source/drainregions 80 are in the fin on opposite sides of the gate 68. FIG. 1further illustrates reference cross-sections that are used in laterfigures. Cross-section B-B extends along a longitudinal axis of the gate68 of the FinFET 30. Cross-section A-A is perpendicular to cross-sectionB-B and is along a longitudinal axis of the fin 64 and in a directionof, for example, a current flow between the source/drain regions 80.Cross-section C-C is parallel to cross-section B-B and is across asource/drain region 80 of the FinFET 30. Subsequent figures refer tothese reference cross-sections for clarity.

FIGS. 2, 3A, 3B, 4A-4C, 5A-5F, 6A-6C, 7A-7C, 8A-8C, 9A-9C, 10A-10C,11A-11C, 12A-12C, and 13-16 are various views (e.g., plan views,cross-sectional views) of a FinFET device 100 at various stages offabrication in accordance with an embodiment. The FinFET device 100 issimilar to the FinFET 30 in FIG. 1, but with multiple fins.

FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of a substrate 50 used for fabricatingthe FinFET device 100. The substrate 50 may be a semiconductorsubstrate, such as a bulk semiconductor, a semiconductor-on-insulator(SOI) substrate, or the like, which may be doped (e.g., with a p-type oran n-type dopant) or undoped. The substrate 50 may be a wafer, such as asilicon wafer. Generally, an SOI substrate includes a layer of asemiconductor material formed on an insulator layer. The insulator layermay be, for example, a buried oxide (BOX) layer, a silicon oxide layer,or the like. The insulator layer is provided on a substrate, typically asilicon or glass substrate. Other substrates, such as a multi-layered orgradient substrate may also be used. In some embodiments, thesemiconductor material of the substrate 50 may include silicon;germanium; a compound semiconductor including silicon carbide, galliumarsenic, gallium phosphide, indium phosphide, indium arsenide, and/orindium antimonide; an alloy semiconductor including SiGe, GaAsP, AlInAs,AlGaAs, GaInAs, GaInP, and/or GaInAsP; or combinations thereof.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the substrate 50 includes a first portion in aregion 200, and a second portion in a region 300. The first portion ofthe substrate 50 in the region 200 may be used to form N-type devicessuch as N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors(MOSFETs), and the second portion of the substrate 50 in the region 300may be used to form P-type devices such as P-type MOSFETs. Therefore,the region 200 may be referred to as an NMOS region of the substrate 50,and the region 300 may be referred to as a PMOS region of the substrate50. In other embodiments, P-type devices (or N-type devices) are formedin both the region 200 and the region 300.

FIG. 3A illustrates the substrate 50 in FIG. 2, with a top portion ofthe substrate 50 in the region 300 replaced by a semiconductor material50A. FIG. 3B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the structure in FIG.3A along cross-section D-D.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a portion of the substrate 50 in theregion 300 is replaced with the semiconductor material 50A, such as anepitaxial semiconductor material that is suitable for forming acorresponding type of device (e.g., P-type device) in the region 300.For example, the semiconductor material 50A may be or compriseepitaxially grown silicon germanium. To form the semiconductor material50A, a mask layer (not shown), which may be a photo-sensitive layer suchas photoresist, is formed over the substrate 50 using chemical vapordeposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), spin coating, orother suitable deposition method. The mask layer is then patternedusing, e.g., photolithography and/or patterning techniques. Thepatterned mask layer covers the region 200 but exposes the region 300.An exposed portion of the substrate 50 in the region 300 is then removedby a suitable etching process, such as reactive ion etch (RIE), neutralbeam etch (NBE), the like, or a combination thereof, to form a recess(not shown) in the region 300.

Next, an epitaxy is performed to grow the semiconductor material 50A inthe recesses in the region 300. The epitaxially grown semiconductormaterial 50A may be in situ doped during growth, which may obviate theneed for prior and subsequent implantations although in situ andimplantation doping may be used together. After the epitaxy, the masklayer may be removed by a suitable removal process, such as etching orplasma ashing. A planarization process, such as chemical mechanicalpolish (CMP), may then be performed to level the top surface of thesemiconductor material 50A with the top surface of the substrate 50.FIG. 3B shows an interface 63 between the semiconductor material 50A andthe substrate 50, which may or may not be a straight line as illustratedin FIG. 3B.

Optionally, another patterned mask layer (not shown) may be formed tocover the region 300 while exposing the region 200, and an exposedportion of substrate 50 in the region 200 may be removed and replacedwith an epitaxial grown semiconductor material 50B, which is illustratedin phantom in FIG. 3B. An interface 63′ may be formed between thesemiconductor material 50B (if formed) and the substrate 50. Thesemiconductor material 50B may be or comprise an epitaxial semiconductormaterial that is suitable for forming a corresponding type of device(e.g., N-type device) in the region 200. For example, the semiconductormaterial 50B may be or comprise epitaxially grown silicon carbide.

In other embodiments, the semiconductor material 50B (e.g., an epitaxialsemiconductor material) replaces a portion of the substrate 50 in theregion 300, and a portion of the substrate 50 in the region 200 mayoptionally be replaced by the semiconductor material 50A (e.g., anepitaxial semiconductor material). In yet other embodiments, the abovedescribed epitaxial semiconductor materials (e.g., 50A and 50B) are notformed, thus the processing illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B may beomitted. The discussion below use an embodiment configuration for thesubstrate 50 where the semiconductor material 50A is formed in theregion 300 and the semiconductor material 50B is not formed in theregion 200, with the understanding that the processing illustrated inthe present disclosure may also be applied to other substrateconfigurations such as those described above. In the discussionhereinafter, substrate 51 is used to refer to substrate 50 and thesemiconductor materials 50A/50B, if formed.

The semiconductor materials 50A or 50B (e.g., epitaxial semiconductormaterials) may have a lattice constant greater than, substantially equalto, or smaller than, the lattice constant of substrate 50. The latticeconstant of the semiconductor materials 50A or 50B is determined by thematerial(s) selected by the conductivity types (e.g., N-type or P-type)of the resulting FinFETs. Further, it may be advantageous to epitaxiallygrow a material in an NMOS region different from the material in a PMOSregion. In various embodiments, the semiconductor materials (e.g., 50A,50B) may comprise silicon germanium, silicon carbide, pure orsubstantially pure germanium, a III-V compound semiconductor, a II-VIcompound semiconductor, or the like. For example, the availablematerials for forming III-V compound semiconductor include, but are notlimited to, InAs, AlAs, GaAs, InP, GaN, InGaAs, InAlAs, GaSb, AlSb, AlP,GaP, and the like.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4C, the substrate 51 is patterned toform semiconductor fins 64 (also referred to as fins). FIG. 4Aillustrates a plan view of the FinFET device 100 after the fins 64 areformed. FIGS. 4B and 4C illustrate cross-sectional views of the FinFETdevice 100 in FIG. 4A along cross-sections F-F and E-E, respectively. Asillustrated in FIG. 4A, each fin 64 comprises a portion 64A in theregion 200 and a portion 64B in the region 300. The portion 64A and theportion 64B may be formed in a same processing step (e.g., a samepatterning process), details of which are described below with referenceto FIGS. 4B and 4C.

Referring to FIGS. 4B and 4C, the substrate 51 is patterned using, e.g.,photolithography and etching techniques. For example, a mask layer, suchas a pad oxide layer (not shown) and an overlying pad nitride layer (notshown), is formed over the substrate 51. The pad oxide layer may be athin film comprising silicon oxide formed, for example, using a thermaloxidation process. The pad oxide layer may act as an adhesion layerbetween the substrate 51 and the overlying pad nitride layer. In someembodiments, the pad nitride layer is formed of silicon nitride, siliconoxynitride, silicon carbide, silicon carbonitride, the like, or acombination thereof, and may be formed using low-pressure chemical vapordeposition (LPCVD) or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD),as examples.

The mask layer may be patterned using photolithography techniques.Generally, photolithography techniques utilize a photoresist material(not shown) that is deposited, irradiated (exposed), and developed toremove a portion of the photoresist material. The remaining photoresistmaterial protects the underlying material, such as the mask layer inthis example, from subsequent processing steps, such as etching. In thisexample, the photoresist material is used to pattern the pad oxide layerand pad nitride to form a patterned mask 58. As illustrated in FIGS. 4Band 4C, the patterned mask 58 includes patterned pad oxide 52 andpatterned pad nitride 56.

The patterned mask 58 is subsequently used to pattern the substrate 51to form trenches 61, thereby defining semiconductor fins 64 betweenadjacent trenches as illustrated in FIGS. 4B and 4C. Each semiconductorfin 64 has a portion 64A (see FIG. 4A) in the region 200 (e.g., an NMOSregion), and a portion 64B (see FIG. 4A) in the region 300 (e.g., a PMOSregion). The portion 64A may be used to form, e.g., an N-type FinFET,and the portion 64B may be used to form, e.g., a P-type FinFET. In thediscussion below, the portion 64A of the fin 64 may be referred to as afin 64A, and the portion 64B of the fin 64 may be referred to as a fin64B.

In some embodiments, the semiconductor fins 64 are formed by etchingtrenches in the substrate 51 using, for example, reactive ion etch(RIE), neutral beam etch (NBE), the like, or a combination thereof. Theetch may be anisotropic. In some embodiments, the trenches may be strips(viewed from the top) parallel to each other, and closely spaced withrespect to each other. In some embodiments, the trenches may becontinuous and surround the semiconductor fins 64.

The fins 64 may be patterned by any suitable method. For example, thefins may 64 be patterned using one or more photolithography processes,including double-patterning or multi-patterning processes. Generally,double-patterning or multi-patterning processes combine photolithographyand self-aligned processes, allowing patterns to be created that have,for example, pitches smaller than what is otherwise obtainable using asingle, direct photolithography process. For example, in one embodiment,a sacrificial layer is formed over a substrate and patterned using aphotolithography process. Spacers are formed alongside the patternedsacrificial layer using a self-aligned process. The sacrificial layer isthen removed, and the remaining spacers, or mandrels, may then be usedto pattern the fins.

Recall that a top portion of the substrate 50 in the region 300 isreplaced by the semiconductor material 50A. Therefore, depending onwhere the bottom of the trenches 61 is relative to the interface 63between the semiconductor material 50A and the substrate 50 (e.g., atthe interface 63, above the interface 63, or below the interface 63),the fins 64B may comprise one or more materials. In the example of FIG.4C, the bottom of the trenches 61 extends below the interface 63, andtherefore, the fin 64B has a first portion above the interface 63 formedof the semiconductor material 50A (e.g., silicon germanium), and asecond portion below the interface 63 formed of the material (e.g.,silicon) of the substrate 50. The fin 64A is formed entirely of thematerial (e.g., silicon) of the substrate 50, in the illustrated exampleof FIG. 4B. In other embodiments, the bottom of the trenches 61 extendsabove or at the interface 63, and therefore, the fin 64B is formedentirely of the semiconductor material 50A (e.g., silicon germanium),and the fin 64A is formed entirely of the material (e.g., silicon) ofthe substrate 50.

Variations in the structure and formation method of the fins 64 arepossible and are fully intended to be included within the scope of thepresent disclosure. For example, although FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate twofins 64 being formed, more or less than two fins may be formed. Asanother example, the fins 64 may be formed by etching substrate 50 toform a first plurality of fins (at least portions of which will beremoved and replaced in subsequent processing), forming an isolationmaterial around the first plurality of fins, removing portions (e.g.,portions in the region 300) of the first plurality of fins to formrecesses in the isolation material, and epitaxially growingsemiconductor material(s) in the recesses to form fins 64.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5F, isolation regions 62 are formedover the substrate 50 and on opposing sides of the fins 64, and dummygate structures 75 (e.g., 75A and 75B) are formed over the fins 64. FIG.5A is a plan view of the FinFET device 100, and FIGS. 5B and 5C arecross-sectional views of the FinFET device 100 in FIG. 5A alongcross-sections F-F and E-E, respectively. FIGS. 5D and 5E arecross-sectional views of the FinFET device 100 in FIG. 5A alongcross-sections H-H and G-G, respectively, and FIG. 5F is across-sectional view of the FinFET device 100 in FIG. 5A alongcross-section I-I.

Referring to FIGS. 5B and 5C, isolation regions 62 are formed by fillingthe trenches 61 with an insulation material and recessing the insulationmaterial. The insulation material may be an oxide, such as siliconoxide, a nitride, the like, or a combination thereof, and may be formedby a high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP-CVD), a flowableCVD (FCVD) (e.g., a CVD-based material deposition in a remote plasmasystem and post curing to make it convert to another material, such asan oxide), the like, or a combination thereof. Other insulationmaterials and/or other formation processes may be used. A planarizationprocess, such as CMP, may remove excess insulation material and form atop surface of the isolation material and top surfaces of thesemiconductor fins 64 that are coplanar (not shown). The patterned mask58 (see FIGS. 4B and 4C) may be removed by the CMP process.

In some embodiments, the isolation regions 62 include a liner, e.g., aliner oxide (not shown), at the interface between the isolation regions62 and the substrate 50/fins 64. In some embodiments, the liner oxide isformed to reduce crystalline defects at the interface between thesubstrate 50 and the isolation region 62. Similarly, the liner oxide mayalso be used to reduce crystalline defects at the interface between thesemiconductor fins 64 and the isolation region 62. The liner oxide(e.g., silicon oxide) may be a thermal oxide formed through a thermaloxidation of a surface layer of substrate 50 and/or fins 64, althoughany suitable method may also be used to form the liner oxide.

Next, the insulation material is recessed to form isolation regions 62such as shallow trench isolation (STI) regions. The insulation materialis recessed such that the upper portions of the semiconductor fins64A/64B protrude from between neighboring isolation regions 62. The topsurfaces of the isolation regions 62 may have a flat surface (asillustrated), a convex surface, a concave surface (such as dishing), ora combination thereof. The top surfaces of the isolation regions 62 maybe formed flat, convex, and/or concave by an appropriate etch. Theisolation regions 62 may be recessed using an acceptable etchingprocess, such as one that is selective to the material of the isolationregions 62. For example, a chemical oxide removal using a CERTAS® etchor an Applied Materials SICONI tool or dilute hydrofluoric (dHF) acidmay be used.

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate the formation of dummy gate structure 75 over thesemiconductor fins 64. The dummy gate structure 75 (e.g., 75A, 75B)includes gate dielectric 66 and gate 68, in some embodiments. To formthe dummy gate structure 75, a dielectric layer is formed on thesemiconductor fins 64 (e.g., 64A and 64B) and the isolation regions 62.The dielectric layer may be, for example, silicon oxide, siliconnitride, multilayers thereof, or the like, and may be deposited (asillustrated) or thermally grown (not shown) according to acceptabletechniques. The formation methods of dielectric layer may includemolecular-beam deposition (MBD), atomic layer deposition (ALD),plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD), and the like.

A gate layer is formed over the dielectric layer, and a mask layer isformed over the gate layer. The gate layer may be deposited over thedielectric layer and then planarized, such as by a CMP. The mask layermay be deposited over the gate layer. The gate layer may be formed of,for example, polysilicon, although other materials may also be used. Themask layer may be formed of, for example, silicon nitride or the like.

After the layers (e.g., the dielectric layer, the gate layer, and themask layer) are formed, the mask layer may be patterned using acceptablephotolithography and etching techniques to form mask 70. The pattern ofthe mask 70 is then transferred to the gate layer and the dielectriclayer by an acceptable etching technique to form gate 68 and gatedielectric 66, respectively, and the gate 68 and the gate dielectric 66cover respective channel regions of the semiconductor fins 64, in someembodiments. In other embodiments, the pattern of the mask 70 istransferred to the gate layer to form gate 68, but not transferred tothe dielectric layer. In other words, the dielectric layer is notpatterned by the mask 70 in some embodiments, in which case thedielectric layer may be referred to as the gate dielectric 66 or asdielectric layer 66. Discussion hereinafter uses the example where thedielectric layer is not patterned by the mask 70, however, the principleof the present disclosure also applies to embodiments where thedielectric layer is patterned by the mask 70. The gate 68 may have alengthwise direction substantially perpendicular to the lengthwisedirection of respective semiconductor fins 64. As illustrated in FIG.5A, the gate structure 75A is formed over the fins 64A in the region200, and the gate structure 75B is formed over the fins 64B in theregion 300.

FIGS. 5D and 5E illustrate cross-sectional views of the FinFET device100 of FIG. 5A along cross-section H-H and G-G, respectively. The gatestructure 75A and 75B may not be visible in this cross-section. In theexample of FIG. 5E, the interface 63 extends further away from a majorupper surface 50U of the substrate 50 than an upper surface 62U of theisolation regions 62.

FIG. 5F illustrates a cross-sectional view of the FinFET device 100 ofFIG. 5A along cross-section I-I. As illustrated in FIG. 5F, gatestructure 75A is formed over the fin 64A in the region 200, and the gatestructure 75B is formed over the fin 64B in the region 300.

FIGS. 6A-6C, 7A-7C, 8A-8C, 9A-9C, 10A-10C, 11A-11C, and 12A-12Cillustrate further processing of the FinFET device 100 shown in FIGS.5A-5F. In particular, FIGS. 6A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 10A, 11A and 12A illustratecross-sectional views of the FinFET device 100 along cross-section I-I(see FIG. 5A) at various stages of fabrication. FIGS. 6B, 7B, 8B, 9B,10B, 11B and 12B illustrate the corresponding cross-sectional views ofthe FinFET device 100 along cross-section H-H (see FIG. 5A), and FIGS.6C, 7C, 8C, 9C, 10C, 11C and 12C illustrate the correspondingcross-sectional views of the FinFET device 100 along cross-section G-G(see FIG. 5A).

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 6A-6C, a first spacer layer 86 and asecond spacer layer 84 are formed successively over the structureillustrated in FIGS. 5A-5F. The first spacer layer 86 and the secondspacer layer 84 may be formed conformally. In some embodiments, thefirst spacer layer 86 comprises a low-K dielectric material, and thus,may be referred to as a low-K spacer layer. The first spacer layer 86may be formed of a suitable material such as silicon oxycarbide (SiOC),silicon oxycarbonitride (SiOCN), or silicon carbonitride (SiCN). Athickness of the first spacer layer 86 may be in a range between about 2nm to about 5 nm. In some embodiments, the second spacer layer 84comprises a nitride-rich dielectric material. The second spacer layer 84may be formed of a suitable material such as silicon nitride (SiN) orsilicon carbonitride (SiCN). A thickness of the second spacer layer 84may be in a range between about 3 nm to about 5 nm. Any suitabledeposition methods, such as PVD, CVD, and ALD, may be used to form thefirst spacer layer 86 and the second spacer layer 84.

In accordance with some embodiments, a first material of the firstspacer layer 86 is chosen to be different from a second material of thesecond spacer layer 84 to provide etch selectivity between the firstspacer layer 86 and the second spacer layer 84 in subsequent processing.For example, when the second spacer layer 84 is formed of SiN, the firstspacer layer 86 may be formed of SiOC, SiOCN, or SiCN. As anotherexample, when the second spacer layer 84 is formed of SiCN, the firstspacer layer 86 may be formed of SiOC or SiOCN.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7C, a mask layer, which may be aphoto-sensitive layer such as photoresist, is formed over the structureshown in FIGS. 6A-6C using CVD, PVD, spin coating, or other suitabledeposition method. The mask layer is then patterned using, e.g.,photolithography and/or patterning techniques to form a patterned mask88. The patterned mask 88 covers the region 200 but exposes the region300, as illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7C. Therefore, the patterned mask 88shields the region 200 from the subsequent etching processes describedwith reference to FIGS. 8A-8C and 9A-9C.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8C, an etching process is performed toremove portions of the second spacer layer 84 in the region 300. In someembodiments, the etching process used to remove portions of the secondspacer layer 84 is an anisotropic etching process, such as a dry etchprocess. For example, a plasma etch process using carbon monoxide (CO),tetrafluoromethane (CF₄), oxygen (O₂), ozone (O₃), or combinationsthereof, may be performed to remove the exposed second spacer layer 84in the region 300 (e.g., a PMOS region). In some embodiments, the plasmaetch process has a high etching selectivity (e.g., having a higheretching rate) for the second spacer layer 84 over the first spacer layer86. In some embodiments, the plasma (e.g., CF₄ plasma) used in theplasma etch process chemically reacts with the second spacer layer 84 toremove the second spacer layer 84. In some embodiments, the anisotropicetching process removes the second spacer layer 84 over a top surfaceand sidewalls of the fins 64B (see FIG. 8C), such that the first spacerlayer 86 over the top surface and the sidewalls of the fins 64B isexposed. The anisotropic etching process may also remove upper portionsof the first spacer layer 86 in the region 300. As illustrated in FIG.8A, the anisotropic etching process removes portions of the secondspacer layer 84 and portions of the first spacer layer 86 over the topsurface of the gate structure 75B (e.g., over the mask 70), such thatthe mask 70 is exposed. In addition, the first spacer layer 86 over thetop surface of the fins 64B may be thinned (see FIG. 8A) or removed (notshown).

Due to the anisotropy of the plasma etch processing (e.g., DC biasused), and/or due to byproduct (e.g., polymer) being formed on thesidewalls of the gate structure 75B during the plasma etching process,portions of the second spacer layer 84 (e.g., 84R) along the sidewallsof the gate structure 75B remain (e.g., due to the protection providedby the byproduct of the plasma etching process) after the plasma etchprocess, as illustrated in FIG. 8A. The remaining portions 84R of thesecond spacer layer 84 along the sidewalls of the gate structure 75Badvantageously protects portions of the first spacer layer 86 disposedbetween the remaining portions 84R and the gate structure 75B from asubsequent etching process, such that the portions of the first spacerlayer 86 between the remaining portion 84R and the gate structure 75Bremain after the subsequent etching process to serve as the spacers ofthe gate structure 75B.

In an exemplary embodiment, the anisotropic etching process is a plasmaetch process comprising a first plasma etch step followed by a secondplasma etch step. The first plasma etch step is performed usingtetrafluoromethane (CF₄), and the second plasma etch step is performedusing oxygen (O₂). In some embodiments, the first plasma etching stepmay produce byproducts such as polymer, which polymer covers the topsurface and the sidewalls of the gate structure 75B, thus advantageouslyreducing or preventing damage (e.g., etching of the sidewalls of thegate structure) to the gate structure 75B during the first plasma etchstep. After the first plasma etch step, the O₂ plasma used in the secondplasma etch step removes the polymer byproduct produced by the firstplasma etch step.

In some embodiments, the first plasma etch step and the second plasmaetch step of the plasma etch process are performed at a same temperatureand under a same pressure. In some embodiments, a temperature of theplasma etch process is in a range between about 30° C. to about 65° C.,and a pressure of the plasma etch process is in a range between about 4millitorr (mTorr) to about 50 mTorr. A flow rate of CF₄ in the firstplasma etch step may be in a range between about 100 standard cubiccenter meters per minute (sccm) to about 200 secm. A flow rate of O₂ inthe second plasma etch step may be in a range between about 100 sccm toabout 200 secm. Carrier gas, such as nitrogen, argon, or the like, maybe used to carry the plasma. Each cycle of the first plasma etch stepmay be performed for a duration in a range between about 5 seconds andabout 15 seconds. Each cycle of the second plasma etch step may beperformed for a duration in a range between about 5 seconds and about 15seconds. The number of cycles in the first plasma etch step and in thesecond plasma etch step may depend on, e.g., the thickness of the spacerlayer (e.g., 84) to be removed.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9C, another etching process isperformed to remove portions of the first spacer layer 86 in the region300. In some embodiments, the another etching process used to remove thefirst spacer layer 86 is a wet etch process, e.g., a chemical etchprocess using an etchant. The etchant may have a high etchingselectivity (e.g., having a higher etching rate) for the first spacerlayer 86 over the second spacer layer 84. Therefore, the first spacerlayer 86 may be removed without substantially attacking the secondspacer layer 84 (e.g., 84R). For example, a wet etch process usingdiluted hydrofluoric acid (dHF), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), ozone (O₃),phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄), a standard (STD) clean fluid (which is amixture comprising deionized water (DIW), ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH),and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)), or combinations thereof, may be performedto remove the exposed first spacer layer 86 in the region 300. In someembodiments, the wet etch process completely removes the exposed firstspacer layer 86 in the region 300, such that a top surface 64BU of thefins 64B and sidewalls of the fins 64B (e.g., sidewalls of the fins 64Babove the upper surface 62U of the isolation regions 62) are exposedafter the wet etch process, as illustrated in FIG. 9C. Note that due tothe remaining portion 84R of the second spacer layer 84, portions of thefirst spacer layer 86 along the sidewalls of the gate structure 75Bremain after the wet etch process.

In some embodiments, the wet etch process comprises a first step, asecond step, a third step and a fourth step performed sequentially. Inother words, the second step of the wet etch process is performed afterthe first step of the wet etch process, the third step of the wet etchprocess is performed after the second step of the wet etch process, andthe fourth step of the wet etch process is performed after the thirdstep of the wet etch process. In particular, the first step is performedusing a mixture comprising hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and ozone (O₃), thesecond step is performed using diluted hydrofluoric acid (dHF), thethird step is performed using phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄), and the fourthstep is performed using the STD clean fluid, which is a mixturecomprising deionized water (DIW), ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH), andhydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). By performing the first step, the second step,the third step, and the fourth step as described above, the removalprocess of the first spacer layer 86 can be controlled accurately.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 10A-10C, epitaxial source/drain regions80B are formed over the exposed top surface 64BU (see FIG. 9C) and theexposed sidewalls of the fins 64B, using suitable methods such asmetal-organic CVD (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), liquid phaseepitaxy (LPE), vapor phase epitaxy (VPE), selective epitaxial growth(SEG), the like, or a combination thereof. The epitaxial source/drainregions 80B may have surfaces raised from the top surfaces of the fins64B and may have facets. As illustrated in FIG. 10C, the source/drainregions 80B of the adjacent fins 64B merge to form a continuousepitaxial source/drain region 80B. After the epitaxial source/drainregions 80B are formed, the patterned mask 88 is removed using asuitable process, such as ashing.

Although not illustrated in FIGS. 10A-10C, light doped drain (LDD)regions may be formed in the fins 64B before the epitaxial source/drainregions 80B are formed. LDD regions may be formed by a plasma dopingprocess. The plasma doping process may implant a corresponding type ofimpurities, such as P-type impurities (for P-type devices) in the fins64B to form the LDD regions. For example, the patterned mask 88 mayshield the region 200 (e.g., an NMOS region) while P-type impurities areimplanted into the LDD regions of the fins 64B.

In some embodiments, the resulting FinFET in the region 300 is a p-typeFinFET, the source/drain regions 80B comprise SiGe and a p-type impuritysuch as boron or indium. The epitaxial source/drain regions 80B may beimplanted with dopants followed by an anneal. The source/drain regions80B may have an impurity (e.g., dopant) concentration in a range fromabout 1E19 cm⁻³ to about 1E21 cm⁻³. In some embodiments, the epitaxialsource/drain regions 80B may be in situ doped during growth.

The epitaxial source/drain regions 80B are formed directly on theexposed top surface 64BU (see FIG. 9C) and the exposed sidewalls of thefins 64B. This is different from the process to form the epitaxialsource/drain regions 80A discussed below with reference to FIGS.11A-11C. The epitaxial source/drain regions 80B formed by the processingin the present disclosure is referred to as having a cladding epitaxystructure.

Due to the multi-layer structure (e.g., first spacer layer 86 and thesecond spacer layer 84) for the spacer layers and due to the specificetching process (e.g., dry etch followed by wet etch as discussed above)disclosed, the first spacer layer 86 and the second spacer layer 84 overthe top surface and the sidewalls of the fins 64B are completelyremoved. As a result, the epitaxial source/drain regions 80B may have alarge volume, which results in improves device performance, such aslower drain induced barrier loss (DIBL), larger ON-current I_(on), lowercontact resistance for subsequently formed source/drain contacts, andimproved device reliability, as examples. In addition, damage to thegate structure 75B and the fins 64B are reduced. For example, fin toploss is reduced, damage (e.g., etching) of the sidewalls of the fins 64Bis reduced, and the critical dimension (CD) of the fins 64B are bettercontrolled. As another example, since portions of the first spacer layer86 and the second spacer layer 84 (e.g., 84R) on sidewalls of the gatestructure 75B remain after the above disclosed etching process, damageto the gate structure 75B is reduced or avoided, and the thickness ofthe gate structure 75B is well controlled. Furthermore, the presentlydisclosed structure and method reduces the loading effect between innerportions (e.g., portions between adjacent fins 64B) of the isolationregions 62 and outer portions (e.g., portions not between adjacent fins64B) of the isolation regions 62. For example, by using the presentlydisclosed multi-layer structure for the spacer layer and the specificetching process, a distance between an upper surface of the innerportions of the isolation regions 62 and an upper surface of the outerportions of the isolation regions 62 may be reduced from 25 nm to 5 nm.

Next, in FIGS. 11A-11C, the second spacer layer 84 in the region 200 andthe remaining portion 84R of the second spacer layer 84 in the region300 are removed using a suitable process, such as an etching process. Asuitable etchant, such as phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄), may be used for theetching process. Next, the first spacer layer 86 in the region 200 ispatterned using, e.g., an isotropic etching process, to remove portionsof the first spacer layer 86 over the top surface of the gate structure75A and over the top surface of the fins 64A. A patterned mask layer(not shown), such as a patterned photo resist, may be used to cover theregion 300 while the first spacer layer 86 in the region 200 ispatterned. The patterned mask layer is then removed using a suitablemethod, such as ashing. After the patterning of the first spacer layer86 as described above, remaining portions of the first spacer layer 86(see FIG. 11A), such as those along the sidewalls of the gate structures75A and 75B, will be used as the gate spacers (e.g., low-K gate spacers)of the corresponding gate structure. Therefore, the portions of thefirst spacer layer 86 along the sidewalls of the gate structures 75A and75B may be referred to as spacers 86 hereinafter.

Next, although not illustrated, LDD regions may be formed in the fins64A before the epitaxial source/drain regions 80A are formed. LDDregions may be formed by a plasma doping process. The plasma dopingprocess may implant a corresponding type of impurities, such as N-typeimpurities (for N-type devices) in the fins 64A to form the LDD regions.For example, a patterned mask layer (not shown) may be formed to shieldthe region 300 (e.g., a PMOS region) while N-type impurities areimplanted into the LDD regions of the fins 64A. The patterned mask layermay be removed after the LDD regions are formed.

Next, epitaxial source/drain regions 80A are formed in the fins 64A. Thesource/drain regions 80A are formed by etching the fins 64A (e.g.,etching the LDD regions within the fins 64A) to form recesses, andepitaxially growing a material in the recess, using suitable methodssuch as metal-organic CVD (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), liquidphase epitaxy (LPE), vapor phase epitaxy (VPE), selective epitaxialgrowth (SEG), the like, or a combination thereof.

As illustrated in FIG. 11A, gaps 87 (e.g., empty space) may be formedbetween the epitaxial source/drain regions 80B and the spacers 86 of thegate structure 75B, due to the removal of the remaining portions 84R(see FIG. 10A) of the second spacer layer 84. For example, the epitaxialsource/drain regions 80B may be spaced apart from the spacers 86 by gaps87. The width of the gaps 87 may be determined by the width of theremaining portions 84R of the second spacer layer 84. For example, thewidth of the gaps 87 may be between about 0 nm and 3 nm, although otherdimensions are also possible. In contrast, the epitaxial source/drainregion 80A physically contacts the spacers 86 of the gate structure 75A,and therefore, there is no gap between the epitaxial source/drain region80A and the spacers 86 of the gate structure 75A, in some embodiments.In some embodiments, a distance between the epitaxial source/drainregions 80B and the gate structure 75B is larger than a distance betweenthe epitaxial source/drain regions 80A and the gate structure 75A.

As illustrated in FIG. 11B, etching of the LDD regions within the fins64A recesses a top surface 64AU of the fins 64A. Etching of the LDDregion within the fins 64A may also remove portions of the dielectriclayer 66 disposed above the top surface 64AU, as illustrated in FIG.11B, although in other embodiments, etching of the LDD region within thefins 64A does not remove the dielectric layer 66. In the illustratedembodiment of FIG. 11B, the recessed top surface 64AU is above the uppersurface 62U of the isolation regions 62. In other embodiments, therecessed top surface of the fins 64A may be below (e.g., see 64AU″) orlevel with (e.g., see 64AU′) the upper surface 62U of the isolationregions 62. As illustrated in FIGS. 11B and 11C, a top surface 64BU ofthe fins 64B extends further away from the upper surface 62U of theisolation regions 62 than the recessed top surface 64AU/64AU′/64AU″ ofthe fins 64A. In some embodiments, the top surface 64BU is higher (e.g.,extends further away from the upper surface 62U) than the recessed topsurface 64AU/64AU′/64AU″ by about 18 nm to about 23 nm.

Referring to FIG. 11B, as a result of the etching of the LDD regionswithin the fins 64A, a lower portion of the epitaxial source/drainregions 80A grows in the recess between first spacer layer 86 first.Once the recess is filled, upper portions of the epitaxial source/drainregions 80A over the fins 64A are formed, and may merge to formcontinuous source/drain regions 80A. In some embodiments, a lowermostsurface 80AL of the epitaxial source/drain regions 80A contacts therecessed top surface 64AU/64AU′/64AU″ of the fin 64A, as illustrated inFIG. 11B. In contrast, a lowermost surface 80BL of the epitaxialsource/drain regions 80B may be below the top surface 64BU of the fin64B, as illustrated in FIG. 11C. In some embodiments, the lowermostsurface 80AL of the epitaxial source/drain regions 80A is lower (e.g.,closer to the major upper surface 50U of the substrate 50) than thelowermost surface 80BL of the epitaxial source/drain regions 80B.

As illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the epitaxial source/drain regions80A may have surfaces raised from respective surfaces of the fins 64A(e.g. raised above the non-recessed portions of the fins 64A) and mayhave facets. The source/drain regions 80A of the adjacent fins 64A maymerge to form a continuous epitaxial source/drain region 80A. In someembodiments, the resulting FinFET in the region 200 is an n-type FinFET,and source/drain regions 80A comprise silicon carbide (SiC), siliconphosphorous (SiP), phosphorous-doped silicon carbon (SiCP), or the like.

The epitaxial source/drain regions 80A may be implanted with dopantsfollowed by an anneal. The source/drain regions 80A may have an impurity(e.g., dopant) concentration in a range from about 1E19 cm⁻³ to about1E21 cm⁻³. In some embodiments, the epitaxial source/drain regions maybe in situ doped during growth.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12C, a contact etching stop layer(CESL) 105 is formed (e.g., conformally) over the structured illustratedin FIGS. 11A-11C, and thereafter, a first interlayer dielectric (ILD) 90is formed over the CESL 105. The CESL may comprise any suitable materialsuch as TiN, and may be formed by a suitable method such as PVD, CVD, orthe like. In some embodiments, the first ILD 90 is formed of adielectric material such as silicon oxide, phosphosilicate glass (PSG),borosilicate glass (BSG), boron-doped phosphosilicate Glass (BPSG),undoped silicate glass (USG), or the like, and may be deposited by anysuitable method, such as CVD, PECVD, or FCVD. A planarization process,such as a CMP process, may be performed to planarize the top surface ofthe first ILD 90 such that the top surface of the first ILD 90 is levelwith the top surface of the gate 68. The mask 70 (see FIG. 11A),portions of the first spacer layer 86, and portions of the CESL 105 overthe upper surface of the gate 68 may be removed by the CMP process.Therefore, after the CMP process, the top surface of the gate 68 isexposed, in some embodiments. In the example of FIGS. 12B and 12C, anair gap exists between the epitaxial source/drain region 80A (or 80B)and the underlying isolation regions 62.

FIGS. 13-16 illustrates the cross-sectional views of the FinFET device100 in further processing steps along cross-section I-I. As illustratedin FIG. 13, a gate-last process (sometimes referred to as a replacementgate process) is performed. In a gate-last process, the gate 68 and thegate dielectric 66 (see FIG. 12A) are considered dummy structures andare removed and replaced with an active gate (also referred to as areplacement gate) and active gate dielectric. In some embodiment, theactive gate is a metal gate.

Referring to FIG. 13, the gate 68 and the gate dielectric 66 directlyunder the gate 68 are removed in an etching step(s), so that recesses(not shown) are formed between respective spacers 86. The recesses arefilled by consecutively forming a gate dielectric layer 96, a barrierlayer 94, a seed layer 92, and a gate electrode 98 in the recesses.

In some embodiments, the gate dielectric layer 96 is conformally formedin the recesses. The gate dielectric layer 96 may include silicondioxide. The silicon oxide may be formed by suitable oxidation and/ordeposition methods. In some embodiments, the gate dielectric layer 96includes a high-k dielectric layer such as hafnium oxide (HfO2).Alternatively, the high-k dielectric layer may include other high-kdielectrics, such as TiO2, HfZrO, Ta2O3, HfSiO4, ZrO2, ZrSiO2,combinations thereof, or other suitable material. The high-k dielectriclayer may be formed by ALD, PVD, CVD, or other suitable methods.

Next, a barrier layer 94 is conformally formed over the gate dielectriclayer 96. The barrier layer 94 may prevent or reduce the out diffusionof the material of a subsequently formed gate electrode (e.g., 98). Thebarrier layer 94 may comprise a conductive material such as titaniumnitride, although other materials, such as tantalum nitride, titanium,tantalum, or the like may alternatively be utilized. The barrier layer94 may be formed using a CVD process, such as plasma-enhanced CVD(PECVD). However, other alternative processes, such as sputtering ormetal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), ALD, may alternativelybe used.

Next, a seed layer 92 is conformally formed over the barrier layer 94.The seed layer may include copper (Cu), titanium (Ti), tantalum (Ta),titanium nitride (TiN), tantalum nitride (TaN), the like, or acombination thereof, and may be deposited by atomic layer deposition(ALD), sputtering, physical vapor deposition (PVD), or the like. In someembodiments, the seed layer is a metal layer, which may be a singlelayer or a composite layer comprising a plurality of sub-layers formedof different materials. In some embodiments, the seed layer comprises atitanium layer and a copper layer over the titanium layer.

Next, a conductive material is formed over the seed layer to fill therecesses to form the gate electrode 98. The conductive material maycomprise tungsten, although other suitable materials such as aluminum,copper, rhuthenium, silver, gold, rhodium, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt,cadmium, zinc, alloys of these, combinations thereof, and the like, mayalternatively be utilized. The conductive material may be formed byelectroplating, PVD, CVD, or any suitable deposition method. Aplanarization process, such as CMP, may be performed to remove excessportions of the gate dielectric layer 96, the barrier layer 94, the seedlayer 92, and the gate electrode 98, which excess portions are disposed,e.g., over the upper surface of the first ILD 90. The remaining portionsof the gate dielectric layer 96, the barrier layer 94, the seed layer92, and the gate electrode 98 in the recesses form the replacement gates97 of the FinFET device 100.

Next, referring to FIG. 14, a second ILD 95 is deposited over the firstILD 90. In an embodiment, the second ILD 95 is a flowable film formed bya flowable CVD method. In some embodiments, the second ILD 95 is formedof a dielectric material such as PSG, BSG, BPSG, USG, or the like, andmay be deposited by any suitable method, such as CVD and PECVD. Contactopenings 91 and 93 for contacts plugs 102 (see FIG. 16) are formedthrough the first ILD 90 and/or the second ILD 95. For example, thecontact opening 91 is formed through the second ILD 95 and exposes thereplacement gate 97, while the contact openings 93 are formed throughthe first ILD 90 and the second ILD 95, and exposes source/drain regions80A/80B.

Next, in FIG. 15, silicide regions 82 are formed in the source/drainregions 80A/80B, and a barrier layer 104 is formed over the silicideregions 82 and the second ILD 95. In some embodiments, the silicideregions 82 are formed by depositing, over the source/drain regions80A/80B, a metal capable of reacting with semiconductor materials (e.g.,silicon, germanium) to form silicide or germanide regions. The metal maybe nickel, cobalt, titanium, tantalum, platinum, tungsten, other noblemetals, other refractory metals, rare earth metals or their alloys. Athermal anneal process is then performed so that the deposited metalreacts with the source/drain regions 80A/80B to form silicide regions82. After the thermal anneal process, the unreacted metal is removed.

The barrier layer 104 is conformally formed over the silicide regions 82and the second ILD 95, and lines sidewalls and bottoms of the contactopenings 91/93. The barrier layer 104 may comprise an electricallyconductive material such as titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiN),tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaN), or the like, and may be formedusing a CVD process, such as plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD). However, otheralternative processes, such as sputtering or metal organic chemicalvapor deposition (MOCVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), atomic layerdeposition (ALD), may also be used.

Next, in FIG. 16, a seed layer 109 is formed over the barrier layer 104,and an electrically conductive material 110 is formed over the seedlayer 109. The seed layer 109 may be deposited by PVD, ALD or CVD, andmay be formed of tungsten, copper, or copper alloys, although othersuitable methods and materials may alternatively be used.

Once the seed layer 109 has been formed, the conductive material 110 maybe formed onto the seed layer 109 to fill the contact openings 91/93.The conductive material 110 may comprise tungsten, although othersuitable materials such as aluminum, copper, tungsten nitride,rhuthenium, silver, gold, rhodium, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt, cadmium,zinc, alloys of these, combinations thereof, and the like, mayalternatively be utilized. Any suitable deposition method, such as PVD,CVD, ALD, plating (e.g., electroplating), and reflow, may be used toform the conductive material 110.

Once the contact openings 91/93 have been filled, excess barrier layer104, seed layer 109, and conductive material 110 outside of the contactopenings 91/93 may be removed through a planarization process such asCMP, although any suitable removal process may be used. Contact plugs102 are thus formed in the contact openings 91/93. Although contactplugs 102 over the source/drain regions 80A/80B and over the replacementgate 97 are illustrated in a same cross-section in FIG. 16, the contactplugs 102 may be in different cross-sections in the FinFET device 100.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow chart of a method of forming a semiconductordevice, in accordance with some embodiments. It should be understoodthat the embodiment method shown in FIG. 17 is merely an example of manypossible embodiment methods. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications. For example,various steps as illustrated in FIG. 17 may be added, removed, replaced,rearranged and repeated.

Referring to FIG. 17, at step 1010, a first fin is formed protrudingabove a substrate, the first fin having a PMOS region and an NMOSregion. At step 1020, a first gate structure is formed over the firstfin in the PMOS region. At step 1030, a first spacer layer is formedover the first fin and the first gate structure. At step 1040, a secondspacer layer is formed over the first spacer layer. At step 1050, afirst etching process is performed to remove the second spacer layerfrom a top surface and sidewalls of the first fin in the PMOS region. Atstep 1060, a second etching process is performed to remove the firstspacer layer from the top surface and the sidewalls of the first fin inthe PMOS region. At step 1070, a first source/drain material isepitaxially grown over the first fin in the PMOS region, the firstsource/drain material extending along the top surface and the sidewallsof the first fin in the PMOS region.

Embodiments may achieve advantages. The disclosed multi-layered spacerstructure with the first spacer layer 86 and the second spacer layerstructure 84, coupled with the disclosed etching process (e.g., dry etchfollowed by wet etch), removes the spacer layers (e.g., 84 and 86) fromthe top surface and sidewalls of the fins 64B while keeping portions ofthe spacer layers on the sidewalls of the gate structure 75B. Thecladding epitaxy structure (e.g., 80B) is formed on the top surface andthe sidewalls of the fins 65B with large volume, which results inimproves device performance, such as lower drain induced barrier loss(DIBL), larger ON-current I_(on), lower contact resistance, and improveddevice reliability. In addition, damage to the gate structure 75B andthe fins 64B are reduced, which results in better control of the profileof the FinFET device formed. Furthermore, the loading effect betweeninner portions of the isolation regions 62 and outer portions of theisolation regions 62 is reduced. Another advantage is enhanced strain ofthe PMOS channel due to the cladding epitaxy structure enabled by thepresent disclosure.

In an embodiment, a method includes forming a first fin protruding abovea substrate, the first fin having a PMOS region; forming a first gatestructure over the first fin in the PMOS region; forming a first spacerlayer over the first fin and the first gate structure; forming a secondspacer layer over the first spacer layer; performing a first etchingprocess to remove the second spacer layer from a top surface andsidewalls of the first fin in the PMOS region; performing a secondetching process to remove the first spacer layer from the top surfaceand the sidewalls of the first fin in the PMOS region; and epitaxiallygrowing a first source/drain material over the first fin in the PMOSregion, the first source/drain material extending along the top surfaceand the sidewalls of the first fin in the PMOS region. In an embodiment,the first spacer layer and the second spacer layer are formed ofdifferent materials. In an embodiment, performing the first etchingprocess comprises performing an anisotropic etching process. In anembodiment, after performing the first etching process, the first spacerlayer over the top surface and the sidewalls of the first fin in thePMOS region is exposed, and a remaining portion of the second spacerlayer extends along sidewalls of the first gate structure, and the firstspacer layer is between the remaining portion of the second spacer layerand the first gate structure. In an embodiment, the second etchingprocess exposes the top surface and the sidewalls of the first fin inthe PMOS region. In an embodiment, performing the first etching processcomprises performing a plasma etch process, where the plasma etchprocess comprises a first plasma etching step and a second plasmaetching step, where the first plasma etching step is performed usingtetrafluoromethane (CF₄), and the second plasma etching step isperformed using oxygen (O₂). In an embodiment, performing the secondetching process includes performing a chemical etch process, where thechemical etch process includes a first step, a second step, a third stepand a fourth step performed sequentially. In an embodiment, the firststep is performed using a mixture comprising hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)and ozone (O₃), the second step is performed using diluted hydrofluoricacid (dHF), the third step is performed using phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄),and the fourth step is performed using a mixture comprising deionizedwater (DIW), ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH), and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂).In an embodiment, the first fin further has an NMOS region, where themethod further includes forming a second gate structure over the firstfin in the NMOS region, where the first spacer layer and the secondspacer layer are formed over the second gate structure; forming apatterned mask layer to cover the NMOS region before performing thefirst etching process; and removing the patterned mask layer afterepitaxially growing the first source/drain material. In an embodiment,the method further includes after epitaxially growing the firstsource/drain material, removing remaining portions of the second spacerlayer in the PMOS region and the NMOS region; and epitaxially growing asecond source/drain material over the first fin in the NMOS region. Inan embodiment, epitaxially growing the second source/drain materialincludes removing a portion of the first spacer layer to expose a topsurface of the first fin in the NMOS region; recessing the top surfaceof the first fin in the NMOS region; and epitaxially growing the secondsource/drain material over the recessed top surface of the first fin inthe NMOS region.

In an embodiment, a method includes forming a fin protruding above asubstrate, the fin having a PMOS region and an NMOS region; forming afirst gate over the fin in the PMOS region; forming a second gate overthe fin in the NMOS region; forming a first spacer layer over the fin,the first gate, and the second gate; forming a second spacer layerdifferent from the first spacer layer over the first spacer layer;forming a patterned mask layer to cover the NMOS region while leavingthe PMOS region exposed; and after forming the patterned mask layer,performing a first etching process to remove the second spacer layerfrom a top surface and sidewalls of the fin in the PMOS region;performing a second etching process to remove the first spacer layerfrom the top surface and the sidewalls of the fin in the PMOS region,thereby exposing the top surface and the sidewalls of the fin in thePMOS region; and epitaxially growing a first semiconductor materialalong the top surface and the sidewalls of the fin in the PMOS region.In an embodiment, the first spacer layer is formed using a materialselected from the group consisting essentially of silicon oxycarbide,silicon oxycarbonitride, and silicon carbontride, and where the secondspacer layer is formed using a material selected from the groupconsisting essentially of silicon nitride and silicon carbonitride. Inan embodiment, the first etching process includes a dry etch process,and the second etching process comprises a wet etch process. In anembodiment, performing the first etching process comprises performing aplasma etch process using carbon monoxide, tetrafluoromethane, oxygen,or ozone. In an embodiment, the method further includes afterepitaxially growing the first semiconductor material, removing thepatterned mask layer; recessing a top surface of the fin in the NMOSregion; and epitaxially growing a second semiconductor material over therecessed top surface of the fin in the NMOS region.

In an embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a fin protruding abovea substrate, the fin having a first portion and a second portion, thefirst portion being in a PMOS region, and the second portion being in anNMOS region; a first gate structure over the first portion of the fin inthe PMOS region; a second gate structure over the second portion of thefin in the NMOS region; first epitaxial source/drain regions on opposingsides of the first gate structure and over the first portion of the fin,the first epitaxial source/drain regions being in the PMOS region andextending along a first upper surface and first sidewalls of the firstportion of the fin; and second epitaxial source/drain regions onopposing sides of the second gate structure and over the second portionof the fin, the second epitaxial source/drain regions being in the NMOSregion and over a second upper surface of the second portion of the finin the NMOS region. In an embodiment, a lowermost surface of the secondepitaxial source/drain regions contacts the second upper surface of thesecond portion of the fin in the NMOS region. In an embodiment, thesemiconductor device further includes first spacers on opposingsidewalls of the second portion of the fin in the NMOS region, andopposing sidewalls of the first portion of the fin in the PMOS regionare free of the first spacers. In an embodiment, the first upper surfaceof the first portion of the fin extends further from the substrate thanthe second upper surface of the second portion of the fin.

The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that thoseskilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the presentdisclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they mayreadily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifyingother processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/orachieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein.Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalentconstructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, andalterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor device comprising: a finprotruding above a substrate and extending continuously from a PMOSregion to an NMOS region; a first gate structure over a first portion ofthe fin in the PMOS region; first gate spacers extending along opposingsidewalls of the first gate structure; a second gate structure over asecond portion of the fin in the NMOS region; second gate spacersextending along opposing sidewalls of the second gate structure; firstepitaxial source/drain regions in the PMOS region on opposing sides ofthe first gate structure and over the first portion of the fin; andsecond epitaxial source/drain regions in the NMOS region on opposingsides of the second gate structure and over the second portion of thefin, wherein a first distance between the first gate spacers and thefirst epitaxial source/drain regions is different from a second distancebetween the second gate spacers and the second epitaxial source/drainregions.
 2. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the firstdistance is greater than the second distance.
 3. The semiconductordevice of claim 1, wherein the first gate spacers are spaced apart fromthe first source/drain regions, and the second gate spacers contact thesecond source/drain regions.
 4. The semiconductor device of claim 1,wherein the first source/drain regions extend along first sidewalls ofthe first portion of the fin, and second sidewalls of the second portionof the fin are free of the second source/drain regions.
 5. Thesemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein a lowermost surface of thefirst source/drain regions facing the substrate is closer to thesubstrate than a first upper surface of the first portion of the findistal from the substrate.
 6. The semiconductor device of claim 5,wherein a lowermost surface of the second epitaxial source/drain regionsfacing the substrate contacts a second upper surface of the secondportion of the fin distal from the substrate.
 7. The semiconductordevice of claim 1, further comprising first spacers in the NMOS regioncontacting and extending along opposing sidewalls of the second portionof the fin, wherein the first source/drain regions in the PMOS regioncontact and extend along opposing sidewalls of the first portion of thefin.
 8. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein a first uppersurface of the first portion of the fin distal from the substrateextends further from the substrate than a second upper surface of thesecond portion of the fin distal from the substrate.
 9. Thesemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the finand the second portion of the fin comprise different materials.
 10. Thesemiconductor device of claim 9, wherein the first portion of the finfurther includes an upper portion and a lower portion between the upperportion and the substrate, wherein the upper portion comprises a firstsemiconductor material different from a second semiconductor material ofthe lower portion.
 11. A semiconductor device comprising: a finprotruding above a substrate, the fin having a first portion and asecond portion; a first gate over the first portion of the fin; a secondgate over the second portion of the fin; first source/drain regions onopposing sides of the first gate and over the first portion of the fin;and second source/drain regions on opposing sides of the second gate andover the second portion of the fin, wherein the first source/drainregions contact and extend along first sidewalls of the first portion ofthe fin, wherein second sidewalls of the second portion of the fin arefree of the second source/drain regions.
 12. The semiconductor device ofclaim 11, wherein the first portion of the fin physically contacts thesecond portion of the fin, wherein a first longitudinal axis of thefirst portion of the fin and a second longitudinal axis of the secondportion of the fin extend along a same line.
 13. The semiconductordevice of claim 12, wherein the first portion of the fin is in a PMOSregion of the semiconductor device, and the second portion of the fin isin an NMOS region of the semiconductor device.
 14. The semiconductordevice of claim 13, wherein the first portion of the fin and the secondportion of the fin comprises different materials.
 15. The semiconductordevice of claim 12, wherein a first composition of the firstsource/drain regions is different from a second composition of thesecond source/drain regions.
 16. The semiconductor device of claim 12,wherein a first upper surface of the first portion of the fin distalfrom the substrate extends further from the substrate than a secondupper surface of the second portion of the fin distal from thesubstrate.
 17. A semiconductor device comprising: a fin protruding abovea substrate and extending from a PMOS region to an NMOS region, the finhaving a first portion in the PMOS region and having a second portion inthe NMOS region, wherein a first upper surface of the first portion ofthe fin distal from the substrate extends further from the substratethan a second upper surface of the second portion of the fin distal fromthe substrate; a first gate structure over the first portion of the fin;a second gate structure over the second portion of the fin; firstepitaxial source/drain regions in the PMOS region over the first portionof the fin and on opposing sides of the first gate structure; and secondepitaxial source/drain regions in the NMOS region over the secondportion of the fin and on opposing sides of the second gate structure,wherein a first lowermost surface of the first epitaxial source/drainregions facing the substrate is closer to the substrate than a secondlowermost surface of the second epitaxial source/drain regions facingthe substrate.
 18. The semiconductor device of claim 17, wherein thefirst epitaxial source/drain regions extends along first sidewalls ofthe first portion of the fin, wherein second sidewalls of the secondportion of the fin are free of the second epitaxial source/drainregions.
 19. The semiconductor device of claim 17, further comprising:first gate spacers along sidewalls of the first gate structure; andsecond gate spacers along sidewalls of the second gate structure,wherein a first distance between the first source/drain regions and thefirst gate spacers is larger than a second distance between the secondsource/drain regions and the second gate spacers.
 20. The semiconductordevice of claim 18, wherein the first portion of the fin and the secondportion of the fin comprise different materials.